NEOGEN Australasia, Media Release, 21 March 2023

The uptake of genomic technology among the commercial beef industry is on the rise as producers understand the power of taking their breeding decisions to the next level.

Neogen Australasia NSW Genomics Territory Manager Hannah Powe said the utilisation of genotyping had exceeded expectations with 79 per cent of Angus bulls listed in catalogues in 2022 carrying genomic predictions, while 29 per cent of active breeding females and 83 per cent of 2021 born calves had genotyped sires.

“It is growing as more producers want to know more about the animals they are working with,” Ms Powe said.

“People are using genomic technology as they want to make better breeding decisions, to access more information about their stock earlier in life for traits such as milk, structure and intramuscular fat, improve the accuracies of EBVs (estimated breeding values) and increase the accuracy of hard to measure traits.

“Aligned with this we are continuing to encourage people to test at birth, marking or weaning allowing them to make earlier decisions.”

Ms Powe was a guest speaker at a seminar organised for commercial and seedstock producers by Angus NSW in Wagga Wagga on March 3.

Angus NSW Chairman Matt Macri said the state group was committed to connecting and engaging NSW members with current industry relevant knowledge improving on farm operations and the Angus breed.

“Information and technology are rapidly improving our on-farm activities. Angus NSW is committed to bringing the latest information including genetic selection tools and research for beef cattle producers, with the objective of breeding superior cows to retain within herd,” Mr Macri said.

Ms Powe said producers were using genomic testing for quality assurance and performance guarantees when marketing stock.

“Producers should continue to performance record as they continue to build their genetic reference population.”

Neogen Australasia provides a genomic selection tool, Angus GS, saturated with Angus specific content, and the highest density, breed specific profile product on the market.

There is also genomic testing for parentage, genetic conditions and Pestivirus.

Ms Powe said commercial herds were now trialling Angus HeiferSELECT for their replacement heifers to identify their culls and keeps for their autumn joining.

Angus HeiferSELECT is a genomic tool to help inform the selection of Angus replacement females (87.5 per cent Angus content or greater) in a commercial beef breeding operation.

Angus HeiferSELECT provides genetic predictions for 13 maternal, growth, feed intake, carcase and resilience traits. It also provides the genetic predication for cow-calf value, feedlot-carcase value and total breeding value, and incorporates Angus BreedCHECK, a genomic breed composition prediction.

“It compliments other forms of on-farm selection of age, weight, phenotype, this is another tool to add to the box for understanding what’s happening in terms of genetics and genetic potential your stock could be offering,” Ms Powe said.

According to Angus Australia, as of July 2022 there were 22,557 heifers tested with Angus HeiferSELECT in 65 herds across the nation.

“Producers are looking at using genomic technology at both stud and commercial sector to distinguish themselves and take their breeding decisions to the next level,” Ms Powe said.

“They are looking to make informed evidence-based decisions about knowing where they sit, to improve on-farm efficiency. From genomic testing they can identify their base line, understand their herd and make adjustments to meet their breeding objectives and know what they are working with to move forward.

“They can also understand the influence bulls are having within a herd and heading into bull buying season the information can be used to identify priorities for the next bull purchase decision.

“On top of that it allows you to genetically identify superior or elite animals for use in AI programs or take it to the next level as a marketing option.”

In contrast, genomics allows the identification and culling of inferior stock in a program.

The next genomic step for Neogen is sequencing with 2.2 million SNPs (single nucleotide polymorphisms) to identify more commercially relevant traits.

“We will continue to work with Angus Australia as part of their Angus Sire Benchmarking program and are having conversations with producers about testing mature females having an influence on their herd so their investment will be forwarded through into the future,” Ms Powe said.

Zoetis Sales Representative – Genetics, Livestock Southern, Jake Bourne, said economic indexes and decision support tools such as Angus HeiferSELECT helped with replacement female selection, bull purchasing decisions, marketing, increasing MSA Indexes of terminal animals and understanding of bull reproduction performance.

Mr Bourne advised beef producers to set a breeding objective using good information, including genomics, to assist in decision making.

“To make any of these decisions you need to rank animals based on their genetic potential. There are four sources of information that can be used to estimate genetic merit: pedigree, performance, performance of progeny and genomic data,” he said.

“The reliability of a genomically tested animal is the equivalent of an animal being within the herd for eight years. It identifies the potential of that animal before you are really invested in it.

“With the data from HeiferSELECT producers can really make some decisions on who stays and who goes, and which way to move forward with potential females as breeders.”